On Wednesday 5 June, Te Tumu, School of Māori, Pacific and Indigenous Studies, hosted its inaugural research symposium to share and celebrate research from Te Tumu. The day began with a welcome from Te Tumu Dean Prof Patrick Vakaoti and a history of Te Tumu from Prof Michael Reilly. The programme included four sessions of Te Tumu staff and postgraduate students’ presentations, constructive question and answers segments, feedback, and encouragement.
Supported by Te Tumu’s Research Committee and Postgraduate Committee, the event welcomed attendance from those who are based in Ōtepoti, as well as distance students who are based in Te Whanganui ā Tara, and as far afield as New Caledonia. With special Tītī and fry bread kai, this gathering was truly an inspiring occasion and speaks to exciting research work that Te Tumu staff and students are doing locally, and regionally that are important contributions for their communities, and for the growth of Māori, Pacific and Indigenous Studies scholarship.
Session 1 was facilitated by Dr Paerau Warbrick, a lecturer in Māori Studies, and included presentations by Te Tumu staff member Paia Taani on intergenerational language transmission; and PhD students, Jenni Tupu who presented about transracial adoption, and Ella Cameron-Smith who presented on Ngaati Korokii Kahukura kai identities.
Session 2 was facilitated by Dr Telesia Kalavite, a lecturer in Pacific Studies, and included presentations by four PhD students: Frédéric Dichtel who presented on te reo grammatical structures; Regina Maniam who presented on engaging Indigenous values and methods in doctoral research; Stacey Kokaua-Balfour who presented on Cook Islands’ creative texts relating to the environment and climate change; and Jay Quintos who presented on critical perspectives on films about the Tboli people in the Philippines.
Session 3 was facilitated by Prof Michael Reilly, the Postgraduate Chair of Te Tumu. The session included staff member Prof Richard Jackson who presented on non-violent approaches to counterterrorism, and two PhD students: Jude Bautista who presented on visual social semiotics and critical lenses in discourse analyses; Kim Cope Tait who presented on personal sovereignty in the poetry of Hinemoana Baker.
Session 4 was facilitated by Dr Emma Powell, lecturer in Indigenous Studies and Programme Coordinator of the Master of Indigenous Studies (MIndS). The session included three MIndS distance students: Melissa Denzler, based in Te Whanganui ā Tara who presented on the cultural taxation of kaiako Māori; Elizabeth Hamilton, based in Whakatū, who presented on a approach for honouring Te Tiriti specifically relating to language learning policies for migrants and former refugees; and James Uri-Puati, based in the Cook Islands, who presented on a critical Indigenous framework for theorising second language learning.
